Count Ivan and the Waitress (1911)

• 72%
• 1911
• Drama
• Romance

Count Ivan, a wealthy Russian nobleman, is a dreamer, but not of revolutions. A bachelor, he has drifted into a placid old age, happy with his music and his books, and never contemplating any changes in the social conditions that surrounded him. But, just the same, he is accused of conspiracy, and to escape a sentence to Siberia that means death, he flees to America, landing practically penniless. Music now becomes his sole means of support. He secures a position in a theater orchestra, and manages to earn a meager living, until he incurs the enmity of the leader, and finds himself out in the street again. There is a little, shabby restaurant, where the count is accustomed to dine. The waitress, a self-reliant young woman, likes him for his courtly manners and his unfailing politeness. To obtain some money, the Count pawns his violin. The dealer sees a chance to get rid of a bad bill, and passes it on to his unsophisticated customer. When the latter offers it at the restaurant, he gets in serious trouble, and would have been arrested, had it not been for the interference of the waitress, and the fact that the policeman summoned happened to be the man to whom she was engaged. Later, when the Count falls exhausted in the street, it is the girl and her sweetheart, who aid him, give him shelter and restore him to strength. The Count's friends in Russia although they have lost sight of him have not been idle. They manage to prove to the Czar that aged musician is not, and never has been, a conspirator. A royal pardon is issued, and search for him is started. This hunt ends successfully, just when the unfortunate Count is at the lowest depths. His first thought, when he regains his wealth, is to reward the humble friends who stood by him when he was "a friendless old man." He buys the restaurant where she is employed, leaves a fortune in the cash register, and departs for Russia, realizing that he has safeguarded the future of the girl whose unselfishness deserved the reward she received.